Walking Between Dreams

Chapter 36

My stomach churned as I smelled a savory scent of a soup boiling on the fire, charcoal littered the bottom of the fire pit. With my eyelids barely opened I saw everyone sat in the vicinity of the campsite: all eating food, chatting, and packing up. Slowly I sat up and winced in pain as I stretched my arms, catching Hange's attention. She gazed at me for a moment and walked towards me curiously, she examined every movement I made.

Dirt almost silently shifted as Hange knelt beside me, reached out for my face, and studied the damage to it. Her large brown eyes flickered a bit as she assessed my face showing that she had some humanity left. Roughly she bent down to wrap my arm around her shoulder, guiding me to the fire.

No one noticed as I sat down next to the roaring flames while trying to maintain some distance, heat radiated onto my cold skin. The chewing of food and the calming noises of the forest was the only that I heard, until an older man with short-light hair and eyes stood up and muttered in a language that meant nothing to me. Two kids who were a boy and girl stood up, each dressed in civilian clothes , followed the older man to a titan that was on all four legs with a cart on its back.

A man with short blonde hair was seated by me and cocked his head at me while pointing at himself. "Armin."

I replied shakily, "Ymir."

Armin looked over at the older man and said, "Malgath."

I nodded slightly, propping my hands on my legs, and pointed at the kids.

"Gabi and Falco."

Then my eyes narrowed on the titan on all fours and tilted my head in confusion.

"Pieck."

There was not further explanation needed, she was the cart titan.

Then Armin went around the fire introducing and indicating towards the person, "Mikasa, Jean, Connie, Yenlena, Reiner, and Annie."

Mikasa's gray eyes narrowed on me and glanced at Armin curiously, her body was tense as if she was ready to spring into action. Next to her a tall, long-faced man with shoulder length brown hair sipped the soup quietly but listened to everything; it was Jean. However, a shorter man with light blond hair scared the living daylight out of him and almost cracked a smile, implying it was Connie.

Further from the main group sat three people who were wrapped tightly in cloaks and avoiding eye contact. A towering woman with a sling on observed me as I looked at them and smiled slightly with a knowing look, it was Yenlena. Chatting by her was a strongly built man who looked exhausted who sat next to a much smaller lady with long blond hair. The lady's blue eyes appeared empty and tired, however she still spoke. The other two over there were Reiner and Annie, my heart broke a little for them.

As I sat in silence I took no notice to Hange settling down by me and reaching out for my pocket. Cautiously, she pulled out my brass pocket watch that was partially hanging out of my clothing with the metal chain exposed to the air. Her eyes widened when she saw the innerworkings of the clock that continuously ticked away time through the dirt covered glass back. I felt a tug when she took it out fully and held it up the flames, the embers reflected boldly back at me. 

In Hange's native language she began to excitedly ramble on out my watch, stealing everyone's attention. She flipped it around in her hands while wiping off the mud and grim. Before she go far away I held out my hand to ask for it back. A heavy weight pressed in my hands once it was returned, then I pressed the top button and it opened up. It revealed the numbers of the English language and the arms of the clock working. With trembling hands I gave it back to Hange and sat back to view the chaos.

Abruptly a bowl a soup was placed into my lap and Armin gestured for my to eat. The taste of salty vegetables burned my throat as I gulped it down. Only to have it come back up a few minutes later in some bushes behind where I sat with the twigs digging into my skin. Shakily, I plopped back down and raised my hand to face as I were drinking.

Connie sprang up and confidently grabbed my bowl for more soup until Armin brought me water. Connie stopped midtrack and took that as sign to chug the whole bowl for himself.

The water tasted muddy once I sipped on it and handed the bottle back to Armin. Crouched next to me Armin helped me to stand up with sticks cracking under our boots, and led me over to where a cart was with the man in it. I dropped myself onto the ground and leaned against the used wheels.

Hange appeared again and gave back from watch with was freshly cleaned. With some effort the corners of my mouth pulled up when I saw the metal gleaming.

Without much thought I explained to her, "That is from Mia. It was my first year anniversary gift from her."

A toothy smile stretched across her face as she nodded slightly. In a sad attempt to communicate I held out the watch and brought it closer to my body.

"Mia," I echoed as I choked on her name and returned it my pocket.

Hange waved a goodbye and I returned it with barely getting my arms above my shoulders. Soon she was off back to the dying flames and the rest of the soldiers.

Thankfully, Armin soon brought me a blanket to wrap myself in once the ground became too cold. The rough fabric itched my skin, however there was nothing to complain about.

The man in cart rolled over and glared at me. "Tch."

"Ymir." I whispered without meeting his eyes.

Birds sang unfamiliar melodies in the high tree branches, the leaves swaying in the breeze. Wood creaked as the injured man rolled back into the cart without saying a word.

"I saw the light fade from the sky." I sang into the dark void in my chest. "On the wind I heard a sigh as the snowflakes cover my fallen brothers. I will say this last goodbye."

Tears flowed down my cheeks, my breath hitched, and I continued, "Night is now falling so ends this day. The road is now calling and I must away..."

My voice faltered and sobs echoed in the quietness.

No one was there, I was finally alone with my own grief.

Once my crying ceased I heard the wood creak again and heard a baritone voice, "Levi."

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Thank you for reading. I do apologize for taking so long to update. I am attending my first semester of college and it was a time and half of craziness.

Credits goes to Billy Boyd who wrote and sang the song "The Last Goodbye" that is sang in this chapter.